‘Unauthorised person’ in LA airport

An airline employee reporting the incident said the individual in question was dressed as a pilot, but the employee alerted authorities of a possible unauthorized entry when informed that the plane’s flight crew had not yet arrived, airport police spokesman Rob Pedregon said.

The off-duty pilot was scheduled to ride to NY on JetBlue Flight 24 but instead got on a Virgin American flight to NY, Pedregon said.

The airport said in a statement that an LAPD bomb squad cleared JetBlue Flight 24 after the security issue.

An airport police officer told ABC7 that “we have reason to believe” that the person seen on the boarding bridge was a “non-revenue pilot” who was authorized to be on that flight. Police were searching for the unauthorized person.

Delta’s Los Angeles to Denver flights will be operated by Delta Connection carrier SkyWest Airlines using two-class, 76-seat CRJ-900 aircraft.

Authorities at Los Angeles global Airport searched a JetBlue aircraft bound for NY on Thursday following reports that an unauthorized person dressed as a pilot might have tried to board the plane.

JetBlue officials supported no customers were on board the aircraft, but that the airplane as well as the bag were rescreened “out of an abundance of care”.

As a precautionary measure, Castles says, the aircraft was towed from Terminal 3 to a remote area of the airfield.